Paparazzi is nothing new to us. Photographers hunting down celebrities in risque positions and awkward weddings has been common place in America for awhile now. We live in an age where people become household names for leaked porn videos of themselves. We used to see paparazzi magazines in the evening newspaper or while waiting in line at Walmart. However, I believe that Paparazzi has taken on a new form. Buzzfeed links on weight loss, clink bait about celeb crushes, and bogus ads about UNBELIEVABLE NEW LEAKED PICTURES. Photographers who have borderline stalker tendencies have found new ways to sell to websites and reach their audience.
But why do people follow these magazines? Why do they all sell so much? Is it because they bring something out in us? Some believe we need to see other peoples lives down in the dirt so we feel better about ourselves. Some people think we actually care what goes on in the lives of our favorite movie star, as if we know them just like a best friend. Do we really care if they dress like a hipster? In the article, the writer never mentions what makes any of them hipsters. He barely mentions that they even look like hipsters.
I believe that when people see their favorite celebrities and people they admire dress a certain way, they start to think that the look is attractive. Trends and fashions catch on and sites like Style Bistro understand this. They seek to profit from our tendency of looking at celebrities clothes with desire in our eyes. We want to wear what they wear. We want to rock what attitudes they rock. We want to know what they seem to know about the world, because we want to be popular, wanted and desired like they are.
Its sick to think that we are such jealous and envious creatures, but why else would paparazzi magazines be so popular. We all have friends who follow every tweet and post of their favorite actor or singer. They idolize them, quote them and fantasize about them. Not necessarily in a sexual way, but many of us fantasize about meeting our idols because these people are so important to us, even if we aren’t important to them. So if our idols start calling themselves hipsters and dressing in a weird manner then we notice. We notice because the media forces us to notice. Paparazzi pictures are showcased all around us from our facebook feeds to television shows like TMZ dedicating their entire show to it. This is how brands are used to make icons and brands. Companies see the profits that can be made. Its actually easy to quantify how likely they are to catch on too. Just look at how many people like and share it. If a trend catches enough attention all a company needs to do is sell the product and they have their market already set out for them. People buy the clothes and styles trying to look like their idols.